Out-of-school adolescents of lower secondary school age, female in SDG: Sub-saharan Africa

SDG: Sub-saharan Africa: Out-of-school adolescents of lower secondary school age, female was 15.91 million in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
15.91 million
Change on year
up 0.2%
Rank
6th
of 39 groups
All-time high
15.91 million
in 2025
All-time low
11.27 million
in 2009
Years of data
26
2000–2025

Out-of-school adolescents of lower secondary school age, female in SDG: Sub-saharan Africa, 2000–2025

05.0M10.0M15.0M2000201220252000: 12.8M2001: 12.7M2002: 12.5M2003: 12.2M2004: 11.9M2005: 11.7M2006: 11.5M2007: 11.3M2008: 11.3M2009: 11.3M2010: 11.3M2011: 11.4M2012: 11.6M2013: 11.8M2014: 12.1M2015: 12.5M2016: 12.9M2017: 13.3M2018: 13.8M2019: 14.4M2020: 14.9M2021: 15.1M2022: 15.5M2023: 15.7M2024: 15.9M2025: 15.9M

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

Analysis

The most recent figure for out-of-school adolescents of lower secondary school age, female in SDG: Sub-saharan Africa is 15.91 million, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 26 years on record.

That represents a change of up 0.2% on the previous year and up 27.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, out-of-school adolescents of lower secondary school age, female in SDG: Sub-saharan Africa peaked at 15.91 million in 2025 and was at its lowest, 11.27 million, in 2009.

SDG: Sub-saharan Africa ranks 6th of 39 groups on this measure, in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 26 years of available data.

Out-of-school adolescents of lower secondary school age, female in SDG: Sub-saharan Africa, year by year

Annual values for Out-of-school adolescents of lower secondary school age, female (number) in SDG: Sub-saharan Africa, 2000 to 2025.
Year Value Change
2000 12.77 million
2001 12.69 million -0.6%
2002 12.48 million -1.7%
2003 12.20 million -2.2%
2004 11.90 million -2.5%
2005 11.66 million -2.0%
2006 11.46 million -1.7%
2007 11.35 million -1.0%
2008 11.30 million -0.4%
2009 11.27 million -0.3%
2010 11.28 million +0.1%
2011 11.41 million +1.2%
2012 11.59 million +1.6%
2013 11.81 million +1.9%
2014 12.06 million +2.1%
2015 12.53 million +3.9%
2016 12.95 million +3.4%
2017 13.33 million +2.9%
2018 13.83 million +3.8%
2019 14.36 million +3.8%
2020 14.92 million +3.9%
2021 15.13 million +1.4%
2022 15.51 million +2.5%
2023 15.74 million +1.5%
2024 15.88 million +0.9%
2025 15.91 million +0.2%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 11.91 million 11.27 million 12.77 million 10
2010s 12.52 million 11.28 million 14.36 million 10
2020s 15.52 million 14.92 million 15.91 million 6

Countries ranked near SDG: Sub-saharan Africa

  1. 3 Tanzania, United Republic of 1.45 million compare
  2. 4 Algeria 1.38 million compare
  3. 5 Niger 1.04 million compare
  4. 6 Cameroon 651,841 compare
  5. 7 Burkina Faso 650,121 compare
  6. 8 Chad 610,184 compare
  7. 9 Bangladesh 596,101 compare

See the full ranking of 202 places →

More education data for SDG: Sub-saharan Africa

All data for SDG: Sub-saharan Africa →

Frequently asked questions

What is out-of-school adolescents of lower secondary school age, female in SDG: Sub-saharan Africa?
Out-of-school adolescents of lower secondary school age, female in SDG: Sub-saharan Africa was 15.91 million in 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
What is the highest out-of-school adolescents of lower secondary school age, female recorded in SDG: Sub-saharan Africa?
The highest recorded value was 15.91 million in 2025.
What is the lowest out-of-school adolescents of lower secondary school age, female recorded in SDG: Sub-saharan Africa?
The lowest recorded value was 11.27 million in 2009.
How does SDG: Sub-saharan Africa rank for out-of-school adolescents of lower secondary school age, female?
SDG: Sub-saharan Africa ranks 6th out of 39 groups with data for 2025.
Is out-of-school adolescents of lower secondary school age, female rising or falling in SDG: Sub-saharan Africa?
Over the last ten years it is up 27.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this SDG: Sub-saharan Africa data come from?
The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Out-of-school adolescents of lower secondary school age, female (number). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 26 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Out-of-school adolescents of lower secondary school age, female in SDG: Sub-saharan Africa. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 16 September 2026, from https://education.statizoid.com/stat/out-of-school-adolescents-of-lower-secondary-school-age-female-number-2/sdg-sub-saharan-africa/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://education.statizoid.com/stat/out-of-school-adolescents-of-lower-secondary-school-age-female-number-2/sdg-sub-saharan-africa/">Out-of-school adolescents of lower secondary school age, female in SDG: Sub-saharan Africa</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Out-of-school adolescents of lower secondary school age, female (number)
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics)
Coverage
202 places, 3,544 data points, 1970–2025
Last refreshed

February 2026 Data Release